Project seeks to build community capacity to support those in need

Representatives from Palliative Manitoba are visiting three communities in Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority to host free, half-day workshops to teach people how to address grief and bereavement needs within communities.

“Through discussions with the three rural Regional Health Authorities, we recognized that grief and bereavement education and support are limited in more remote communities. Via a generous funding grant from the Thomas Sill Foundation, we are able to pursue building community capacity and provide valuable resources regarding bereavement services to rural Manitoba communities,” said Mike Goldberg, community outreach coordinator with Palliative Manitoba who will be one of two facilitators hosting the workshops.

Workshop attendees will learn how to help care for people who are experiencing grief. Training addresses how to define and distinguish between loss, grief, and bereavement; varying types of grief; proven communication strategies for speaking to someone who has experienced loss; and the importance of self-care when providing quality grief support.

Goldberg has a master degree in gerontology and he facilitates palliative care educational seminars such as compassionate care workshops for health care aides, support workers, and First Nations communities. Also facilitating the workshops is Ellen Jacobs, a registered nurse who is a bereavement support volunteer with Palliative Manitoba. She has supported grieving individuals and volunteered in bereavement support groups since 2004. She authored the workbook Bereavement Education/Services in Rural Manitoba, Building Community Capacity in 2015.

The workshops are taking place in:

Stonewall Hospital, MPR A and B, May 13, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Gimli Hospital, MPR A and B, May 18, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.Beausejour Hospital MPR, A and B, June 16, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information and to register, please contact Mike Goldberg with Palliative Manitoba at 1-800-539-0295 or email him at mgoldberg@palliativemanitoba.ca.

Palliative Manitoba’s mission is to promote compassionate, effective care for all Manitobans touched by any life threatening condition or bereavement, and provide services and education complementary to the formal health care system.